Total Knee Replacement

grdad45

Had the left knee done on Feb. 13. Rehab is coming along nicely, but I call physical therapy "the torture chamber"! Of course, I knew going in that it would be painful. Probably the worst thing is that the pain meds "stopped" my colon from doing its job for about 5 days! It took multiple doses of laxatives and mineral oil to get relief. 

Getting old doesn't bother me as much as the side effects!

danielgage

prayers

deer hunting buddy had one years ago and gets around a lot better now

he says it was well worth it

Horse Plains Drifter

Absolutely worth the pain IMO. I spent 2014-2015 getting two hips, and a knee. I was very close to being in a wheelchair in 2013. My comeback has amazed me, and I have improved far past where I even hoped to be.

jimdeere

Get well soon, grdad45. Attitude is everything.

danielgage

also work with a lineman that had one and he still climbs poles

grdad45

Flying Clay Disk said:

Those pain meds will stop you up...big time!

Not to be gross, but when I had to take them for my knee surgery I got stopped up so bad when I finally was able to go I think I crapped a pure wurtzite boron nitride nugget (harder than pure diamonds)!!

Yeah, I thought I broke the bottom out of the "terlit"! 

grdad45

Thanks for all the encouragement, friends. Gonna do the whole 6 weeks of therapy, then go it alone until I have as much mobility as I can get. Probably wait about 6 months and do the right side.

truthful

For me, the PT sessions just made it worse. Pain wasn't so bad, but flexibility was worse after the replacement than before. Bicycle riding helped a lot.

allen griggs

After TKR, I went down to the PT clinic for my twice a week appt, and I said to my therapist, "If you are standing here, who is guarding the gates of hell?"  

hoosier

Therapy is important.  Just  stick with it.  They used a, tens machine to stimulate the muscles, wow.  Swelling has to go down to get full range of motion (4-6weeks).

Best thing I've found is  using a pool (heated salt water preferred). The buoyancy keeps pressure off the joints and allows flexibility.

Takes about  6 months to a year to  get  totally back to tip top shape.

Still going after last one in 2017. Great exercise too.

Brookwood

My solution for getting stopped up from pain meds after your knee replacement is to schedule a colonoscopy 2 days after the surgery!!  

mohawk600

Had my hip done 12/19/19 and I still regret it.....would gladly take my old one back

hillbille

mohawk600 said:

Had my hip done 12/19/19 and I still regret it.....would gladly take my old one back

  had mine done 1/28/20  pain is all but gone, can walk without cane but have slight limp, with cane no limp, it has only been about month for me........  no way would I go back to way it was, have heard knees were way worse than hips though

pulsarnc

Tentatively I will have my right knee done in June and the left sometime later when healed up . Looking forward to eventually being able to walk without pain again

kimi

Good luck to all of you!

He Dog

By the 4th day after surgery I had little remaining pain.  Work hard at the PT, that is how you build strength and get the maximum flexibility in that knee.  I did not find it torture at all, but if they are working your butt, you will thank them later, because they are getting you the most out of that knee.

JimmyJack

Im on my sixth year of Orthovisc injections and getting by.  Gonna have to bite the bullet pretty soon.

Mobuck

"Had my hip done 12/19/19 and I still regret it.....would gladly take my old one back"

AMEN, I had a hip replaced 7/16/19 and would not recommend it unless you're in so much pain you've gone crazy.  You'd have to be crazy to get it done IMHO.  Coming up on 8 months and I'm so pizzed off at the results, I can barely type the words. I have a bum knee that's a prime candidate for replacement but sure as heck not going to happen. I'll leave a one legged corpse before getting a knee replacement.